Drew vows to stay unfazed by riches
By Mike Eisenbath
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch 7/14/98

* Cards hot prospect says "I grew up a small-town boy. My roots are going to remain the same the rest of my life."

It's almost 7:30 p.m. That's time for the first pitch at Ray Winder Field, where the baseball is billed as "The Greatest Game on Dirt."

But this is baseball in the Texas League, at the home of the minor-league Arkansas Travelers. It's always about more than just that night's game. This is the grass roots of baseball, and those roots go deep. So before Thursday's game against the San Antonio Missions, a little-leaguer from the Little Rock area accompanies each Arkansas player as they run to their position on the field.

Jacob Williams, 7, trots into the outfield with the Travelers' newest player. The little-leaguer is decked out in white baseball pants, his blue jersey with a No. 2 on the back and a blue cap. He stood, sheepishly at first, as the Arkansas player got down on one knee to look him in the eyes.

"What do you do on your baseball team?" J.D. Drew asked Jacob.

"I'm the best slugger on my team, too," he said.

Jacob didn't know much else about Drew, the young Arkansas center fielder. Actually, the boy knew only one real statistic involving J.D. Drew.

"He's the $7 million man," Jacob said.

Drew, this year's first-round draft pick with the Cardinals, hopes people come to forget his 13-month holdout and record contract. There's so much more he wants them to know.

Trying to meet demands

A crowd of more than 5,000 people showed up Thursday for Drew's first home game in an Arkansas uniform. He had signed his guaranteed $7 million, four-year contract with the Cardinals only six days earlier. But his reputation preceded him as one of the top amateur players to enter the draft in many years.

"Come here! We don't want your money," one fan shouted before the game as Drew started signing at the other end of the line. "We want your autograph."

Many more stood there after the game, when Drew signed balls, caps and scorecards. Park officials turned off the stadium lights. He signed in the dark, chatting as he made his way down the line, until everyone was satisfied.

"These people are great fans, true Cardinal fans," Drew said. "I'm looking forward to playing in front of them the rest of the year."

The next day, Drew talked about his sprouting professional baseball career, one that already gives him national celebrity.

He's been compared to a young Mickey Mantle. He was handed a contract worth more money than some major-leaguers make in their first six seasons, and he hasn't had even one big-league at-bat. Many Cardinals fans expect to see him in St. Louis in September and possibly starting in 1999.

Many Philadelphia Phillies fans and media members, who felt scorned when the Phillies drafted him last year but couldn't sign him, can't wait for him to reach the big leagues and make that first trip to their city.

Drew doesn't spend much time thinking about those things. Instead, he says he focuses on improving as a player, fitting into whatever plan God has for his life and living right in the eyes of fans such as Jacob and those Arkansas folks waiting in the dark of Ray Winder Field.

"Kids who come up to you for an autograph, they look up to you," Drew said. "You try to meet all the demands. If I have time and get the opportunity, yeah, I'm happy to sign autographs for folks.

"You grow up sitting around in high school, playing around with the guys and learning autographs by practicing yours. You joke around, `My autograph is going to be worth something some day.' I'm the only one that came out of my high school that made it. It's pretty neat."

He says his newly bloated bank account won't change the kind of person he is.

Quietly, he challenges people to watch how he lives his life and see if there will be any differences.

That's part of the reason he didn't sign with Philadelphia and quickly realized he liked the possibilities in St. Louis better.

He uses the phrase "comfort factor" often - he was more comfortable with the approach of Cardinals ownership, felt more comfortable with the things he heard about the Cardinals' organization and the people of St. Louis. He felt appreciated more by the Cardinals.

Although he might forever be linked with his holdout and financial demands, Drew said he doesn't think much about money.

"It's good to have. I can help my family, help my church," said Drew. He plans to tithe 10 percent of his income. Bethany Baptist Church in his hometown of Hahira, Ga., and First Baptist Church of Tallahassee, where he went to Florida State, will benefit.

"That's all that really matters to me," he said. "I'm still going to go out and play the game hard. It's not going to change the person I am. I'm still going to drive my pickup around when I'm at home and hang out with the same friends.

"I grew up a small-town boy. My roots are going to remain the same the rest of my life."

`He didn't put on any airs'

There's no way of knowing how long Drew will play in Arkansas - where he's batting .290 with nine hits, including three homers, in 31 at-bats. Whether it's a couple of weeks, a month or longer, he wants to leave an impression.

He's already made an impact with his fellow Travelers.


"He's like the Mark McGwire of the minor leagues," Arkansas first baseman Mike Hardge said. "Everywhere he goes, there are going to be a lot of people, and it's good for us, because it brings a lot of people out to see us."

A player such as Hardge, who's been a minor-leaguer for 10 years, didn't completely embrace the new millionaire automatically.

But Drew has won them over.

"The first time he came in the clubhouse," Arkansas manager Chris Maloney said, "he walked in like, `I'm a ballplayer just like you guys.' He didn't put on any airs.

"Guys are going to naturally be somewhat jealous of you when you get that kind of attention and money," Maloney said. "I've seen some guys who were No. 1 draft picks who had a hard time because they thought this was going to be a walk in the park.

"Other players can smell a rat like that, too. They've got a lot of intuition about character. When J.D. got here, I told him, `You're just like one of the guys now.' I think that's how he wants it."

Everyone wanted proof about Drew's talent as well. That was an easy sell - less than a few games.

"I saw him go get a ball in the outfield," Maloney said, "and I thought, `Wow.' I saw him beat out an infield hit, and I said, `Wow!' I saw him go the opposite way for a home run off a lefthanded pitcher, and I went, `Wow!' There's no doubt he's something special."

Drew hopes to impress people with his hard work and talent. Ever since high school he gave up extra hours, when many of his friends were goofing off, to perfect his swing and other phases of his game. He'd come back from the batting cages with blisters. As far as he was concerned, work could make good things happen.

"I've never doubted my talent," Drew said. "The reason is because God's given me a lot of it.

"People that follow the game, are really intrigued by the game, they build up an Alex Rodriguez, a Ken Griffey Jr., you've got a Mark McGwire - those guys playing the game hard every day," Drew said. "People really focus on those players. Hopefully, if I am one of those players, when people are focusing on me, God will get the ultimate glory for it all. He gave me the talent. I'm just running out there playing the game as hard as I can.

"That's my prayer before every game: `Just let me play the game 110 percent and do the little things that let me improve. Whatever happens, I know you have a plan for my life, and I'll give you all the honor and glory.'

"It's not up to me. I could be injured tomorrow and not be able to play the game again. If that would happen, I'd be perfectly content to go into a ministry where I could go out and hopefully testify for God."
A living example

So far, the most bizarre question any reporter has asked Drew came from Arkansas radio broadcaster Bob Harrison: "What's it like to walk on water?"

As a baseball player, the expectations are enormous. As a person, his own standards are high.

"My life is an example not only of how I play the game," Drew said. "But when somebody sees me off the field, that I'm living my life the right way, it all adds up."

Although he grew up in a church-going family, he took that part of his l ife for granted until committing himself to God in front of the congregation at Bethany Baptist when he was 16.

"I think I'm more on fire today (as a Christian) than any time in my life," he said.

"This is a definite podium for me. Baseball is a situation where I can go from being just a minor-league player working my way to St. Louis to being a guy people can look at, and when they see me I can use that chance to glorify God rather than something else."

copyright St. Louis Post-Dispatch 7/14/98

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